 Daisy Girl -
The star of a controversial presidential ad who convinced many in the American
public that Republican presidential contender Barry Goldwater was not the person to place in the White House in 1964. If chosen, the ad
implied Goldwater would use nuclear bombs and destroy the world. Incumbent
President Johnson, who had replaced assassinated President John Fitzgerald
Kennedy in 1963, won the election. Four years later, Lyndon Johnson declined to
seek reelection as the flames of the Vietnam War escalated.
The "Daisy" spot - which aired only once during the Movie of the Week
on September 7, 1964 - was created by Tony Schwartz of the Doyle Dane Bernbach
advertising agency in New York. The ad was green-lighted by Democrat Bill Moyers
who later found fame as a television journalist for the PBS network.
Moyers also coined the anti-Goldwater slogan
"In your guts, you know he's nuts." (based on Goldwater's slogan "In your heart,
you know he's right.")
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Script
from Daisy Girl Ad Campaign |
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In a meadow, a small girl counts as she plucks daisy
petals. |
|
Girl: |
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 7, 8, 9, 9 |
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Ominous male voice counts down launch sequence |
|
Male voice: |
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2,1 |
|
Close up of girl's face as camera progressively zooms in on her eye.
Overlay an atomic explosion into the pupil of her eye.
|
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Voice of President Johnson: |
These are the stakes: To make a world in which all of God's
children can live or to go into the dark. We must either
love each other...or we must die.
|
|
Show message: Vote for President
Johnson on November 3rd |
|
Male
Voice: |
Vote for President Johnson on November 3rd. The stakes are
too high to stay home. |
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